Present and future high capacity printing systems are intended to provide an operator or user with as many job programming options and selections as reasonably possible. For example, at least four developer housings containing four different types of toner are utilized to provide color copying. Further, operators wish to choose from a very large variety of stock. Stock is the print media or support material on which prints are made. The number of print media choices is very large considering the great number of different sheet sizes, colors, and types that are used by customers today. The number is even larger due to the printing needs of different foreign countries.
Since the operator or user wishes to offer a wide variety of printing options to customers and complete customer orders as quickly as possible, minimizing the interruption of print jobs is a very important priority. By replenishing supplies such as stock and toner in a timely fashion, the utilization of high capacity printing systems can be maximized.
A large amount of information concerning the status of the current print job and the requirements of requested print jobs, which have not yet been performed, is required to maximize the utilization of the printing system. In order for the operator to more efficiently utilize the printing system to perform a large number of print jobs with as few interruptions as possible, there is a need for user friendly tools, which can provide the operator with information to manage and supply resources including printing supplies to the printing system in a timely manner.